Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

� Traditional slave hut, Barbados
Owner’s house, colonial sugar plantation, Barbados �
everyday master/slave interactions. Estate Plans show
drawings of plantations and how these properties were
allocated. They provide information on estate ownership,
relationship between master and enslaved, allocation
of lands and size of estates. Plantation Accounts
provide an informative background to the nature of the
plantation enterprise, which was at the centre of the slave
system. Deeds and Wills illustrate how enslaved peoples
were seen and treated as property. Individuals were
transferred or loaned to friends and family members,
sold to settle debts and given as gifts. Government
Records underscore the legislative framework created
to ensure the prosperity and security of a plantation
society built upon the labour of an enslaved people.
There are also Church, Military and Legislative Records,
Bills of Sale, Slave Registers and a varied collection of
general publications.
Together these documentary resources chart the
transformation of Barbados from a small, isolated frontier
settlement from the first decades of the 17th century
to its zenith, as the island’s flourishing economy made
210 Documentary heritage of enslaved peoples of the Caribbean